A well system (e.g., an oil or gas well for extracting fluid or gas from a subterranean formation) can include a drilling assembly for drilling a wellbore. It can be desirable to collect data about the drilling assembly or the subterranean formation contemporaneously with drilling. This can allow the well operator to steer or otherwise optimize performance of the drilling assembly. Collecting data about the drilling assembly or the subterranean formation while drilling can be known as measuring while drilling (MWD) or logging while drilling (LWD).
MWD or LWD systems can employ mud pulse telemetry to transmit the data to the surface of the well system. Mud pulse telemetry can use a drilling fluid (e.g., mud) within the drilling assembly as a communication medium. One form of mud pulse telemetry can be positive pulse telemetry, in which a valve can restrict the flow of the drilling fluid through the drilling assembly. This can create a pressure pulse. Another form of mud pulse telemetry can be negative pulse telemetry, in which a valve releases drilling fluid from within the drilling assembly into an annular space in the wellbore. This can also create a pressure pulse. Using either of the above forms of mud pulse telemetry, the pressure pulse can propagate through the drilling fluid at the speed of sound, where it can be detected at the surface of the well system. In this manner, the MWD or LWD system can transmit data encoded in pressure pulses to the surface of the well system.